Code Geass: The King's Path
by Rein Weisritter
Summary: Someone once said that a king must exemplify the extremes of all things, good and evil. Witness a different Lelouch vi Britannia give birth to his revolution that will change the world, experiencing everything from betrayal to sexual arousal on his way to glory. The path of the king and revolution is long and bloody, and no one knows what lies at the end. Rated T for Suzaku bashing
1. Chapter 1: Shinjuku Massacre

**A/N: Hello guys! This is my first fanfic. Review please, even if you're just insulting me. I'll have a much longer AN at the end.**

* * *

_The date was August 10, in the year 2010 in the imperial calendar. The Holy Britannian Empire has just declared war upon Japan. The Far East nation has held fast onto its neutrality, and now Britannia looms as the world"s only superpower. As rights to Japan"s underground resources became a hotly disputed issue, straining the diplomatic tensions between the two sides. In the decisive battle, Britannia introduced into combat the Knightmare Frame. With the Knightmares, Britannia obliterated Japan"s forces with little effort. Japan became a dominion of the empire; it was stripped of its freedom, its rights, and its name. Area 11, the defeated and once proud country of Japan was renamed with a mere number. _

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

**2017 a.t.b.**

"Any last words, kid?" the captain of the Royal Guard asked. They all raised their guns and pointed them at the raven-haired teenager. His violet eyes were desperately searching for a way out of his predicament but he couldn't find one. _"Wh-w-what's happening? First they kill Suzaku, now this girl! I can't believe it—I'm going to die here before I could do a single thing with my life. I couldn't even start my plans to burn Britannia to the ground. DAMMIT, if only I had more power! Wait, NUNNALLY!_" Suddenly, the mysterious girl's hand grabbed onto him. Lelouch's vision was then filled with filled with a blinding white light.

_"Well I didn't expect you of all people here."_

_"How is that possible? The girl..."_

_"You don't want it to end here, do you? You appear to have a reason for living. If I grant you power, could you go on? I propose a deal—in exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract, and you accept its conditions. While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other: a different providence, a different time, a different life. The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?" _the girl said in his mind.

Lelouch then heard a deep booming voice that he knew all too well. Lelouch saw his father standing on a platform in the sky with men in cloaks._ "A convergence with the Ragnarok connection? So the myth is beginning once again?"_ Lelouch then saw his life flash by. He saw himself standing over his mother's dead and bloody body in Aries Villa. Then Britannia's ruthless conquest of Japan, the nation that took him in and gave him happiness. After, he saw himself in the same warehouse he's in right now, along with a dozen members of the Royal Guard pointing their guns at him. He realized that in all the situations, he was powerless, unable to change the situation. If he were to die here, Nunnally would be left alone and his dream to destroying the Britannian Empire would be left unfulfilled. With this girl's offer for power, the answer was all to clear to him now.

_"Yes, I hereby accept the terms of your contract!" _he shouted, and he was brought back to reality. Suddenly, his left eye felt warm, as if it was radiating some kind of power and quickly covered it. Unconsciously, he knew exactly what it can do **(AN: As in he knew that he can command others to obey, nothing more than that)**. Lelouch stood up and faced towards the Royal Guard. "Say, how should a Britannian who detests his own country live his life?" he pondered.

Surprised by the boy's words, the captain hesitantly pointed his gun towards him. "What are you saying?" His eyes narrowed. "Are you some kind of radical?"

"What's wrong, why not shoot? Your opponent's just a schoolboy," Lelouch said mockingly. "Or have you finally realized-the only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed!" Lelouch withdrew his hand back to his side, a crimson sigil manifesting itself on his eye.

The Royal Guard quaked in fear of Lelouch's mysterious eye. "Gah, what's happening here? Is this related to the girl?!"

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia command you, now all of you, DIE!" His power activated and forced the Royal Guard to obey his command.

The Royal Guard paused for a second before the power overwhelmed them. Chucking, they all looked at Lelouch with their red-rimmed eyes. "Hehehe, happily your highness!" They all turned their weapons on themselves, grins adorning their faces. "Fire!" the captain shouted before blood erupted from his neck, and he fell over dead. The other members committed suicide as well. Lelouch didn't even blink as he wiped some blood off his face.

"Ugh, disgusting," he said. _"I've lived a lie up to this point. My name was a lie, my personal history a lie, even my personality was a lie. I had to lie; I was powerless! I was unable to change this world that sickens me. But this incredible power, it's mine." _Lelouch grinned sinisterly. _"Well then..." _Lelouch's thoughts were interrupted when a Sutherland burst through the wall.

_"Why are all these Royal Guard men dead?" _the pilot of the Sutherland thought, _"A student did all this?"_ She activated the external speakers. "Boy, what happened here? And why is a Britannian student in a place like this?" When Lelouch didn't answer, she immediately became frustrated. "Are you deaf? Answer me or..." She used the anti-personnel gun on her Sutherland to shoot the wall behind him to scare him. "Answer me!" Much to her surprise, he didn't flinch.

"I order you to come out," Lelouch activated his power, "at once!" The pilot scoffed. "Who the hell do you think you are to order me?"

_"It didn't work?"_ Lelouch thought, _"It must need direct eye contact then." _He put his hands in the air, feigning surrender. "My name is Alan Spacer. My father's a duke. My ID card is in my breast pocket. After you confirm my identity, I'll request your protection." Lelouch was careful to create a tone that sounded arrogant but not enough to make her shoot him.

_"Nobility?" _She smiled. '_Hmph, his father should reward me well then." _She deactivated her knightmare and opened her cockpit. Lelouch smirked in victory when a silver-haired woman with dark skin and emerald eyes walked up to him with her gun pointed at him "Keep your hands in the air where I can see them. I'll take out your ID."

Lelouch grinned. _"Simple minded Britannian." _"Now then, give me your knightmare and gun." His power activated again.

"Understood. The code number is 1M-5O-13-37." **(A/N: Yes, I did just do that)** She tossed her knightmare's activation key to him.

"Got it." Lelouch went into the cockpit and activated it. He put his hands on the controls. "It's been a while since I've operated a knightmare. Hopefully my mother's blood runs strongly within me. With this, I'll finally be able to complete that oath I made 7 years ago."

* * *

**Flashback**

**2010 a.t.b.**

The sun was setting in the distance, bathing the land in an orange glow. The atmosphere was heavy with dread and sadness as the once proud nation of Japan was destroyed, rechristened as Area 11. Two boys were watching Genbu Kururugi's funeral pyre, lost in their thoughts with their little belongings at their feet. Suddenly, one of the boys stood up.

"I swear," he said, "I swear Suzaku so help me!" The boy known as Suzaku looked at the figure, his friend, across him. He had raven-black hair and a handsome face. His eyes were sad and he was close to crying. Abruptly, the expression in his eyes changed, displaying a look of fury and anger. "I will one day, OBLITERATE BRITANNIA!" Suzaku look at him, trying to find the courage within himself to turn his friend away from the path of violence and destruction but he could only look at him with sadness in his eyes.

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto-Medical Facility**

"So are we having a bad day?" a voice asked. Suzaku instantly opened his eyes and tried to get up. However, the pain was too much and he was forced to sit. He was in what appeared to be a medical facility. He was lying down on a bed with bandages covering his torso. He looked to his right and saw a sky blue-haired man with large circular glasses and lab coat. The man seemed very laid-back, judging from his tone and posture. "Looks like you missed the chance to go to heaven, Private Kururugi," he joked. Another person, a woman with blue hair and eyes wearing a standard scientist army uniform hit him.

"Lloyd!" she scolded. The man rubbed his arm.

"Cecile! It was a joke!" he said. Cecile ignored him and showed Suzaku a pocket watch.

"This is what saved your life, Mr. Suzaku." Suzaku immediately recognized it. It was his father's pocket watch.

"You're very lucky that it was under your protective suit since it's was what deflected the bullet. However, your body is still bruised," Lloyd said.

"Ugh where am I?" Suzaku asked.

"Oh, we're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto."

"That's right. With Prince Clovis nearby, it's probably the safest place in Area 11."

"I see," Suzaku took the damaged watch and inspected it closely. "It was my father's. He passed it down to me before he...died." The woman nodded understandingly. However, the man just raised his eyebrow.

"You Elevens think that gods live inside everything, even objects, don't y-" He was cut off when Cecile's fist collided with his shoulder, causing him a great deal of pain. "Ceciiiilleeee!"

"Lloyd!" she scolded. However, Suzaku wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Lloyd as this and asked him something.

"Hmm? What ails you this time, Kururugi?" he asked as if Suzaku was a machine malfunctioning.

Suzaku was thinking of the events that transpired before he was shot. _"Wait, where's Lelouch? Did he make it out safely? And where's that girl, and why was she in that capsule? It's possible that the 'poison gas' is just a cover-up for something else. But what are they hiding?"_ Suzaku was in deep thinking when a realization struck him. _"If Lelouch is here, that means Nunnally's here as well! Goddammit, if Lelouch dies, I can never speak to Nunnally ever again! Grrr, I've got to get him out of there!"_ Cecile noticed Suzaku tense and looked at him with concern.

"Are you okay, Mr. Suzaku?" she asked. Suzaku noticed her expression and answered her.

"Oh I'm fine. But I need to do something. What's the latest on the situation?" he asked. _"I can't just sit here while my best friend probably going to die. And Lelouch is a Britannian so either terrorists find and kill him, or the Royal Guard gets him out safely. But if they do that, there's a chance they"ll find his true identity." _Suzaku sighed. _"The best I can do is do what I'm told and hopefully Lelouch will get out of there."_

"Well apparently the poison gas has been released. Massive Eleven casualties have been reported and the culprits are nowhere to be found." Cecile said.

_"Damn them! To resort to terrorism is despicable; Ends gained through such methods aren't worth anything. That's why you have to change the system from the inside."_

"Private Kururugi, how much experience do you have in piloting a Knightmare frame?" he asked. Suzaku looked at him in shock.

"There's no way an Eleven would be allowed to pilot a knightmare frame," Suzaku said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Lloyd looked at him, obviously amused, and started held up a white and gold knightmare activation key.

"Well what if you could?" Lloyd mused.

* * *

**10 minutes later**

"Alright then, that's the last of the forms. Are you sure these are really necessary?" Suzaku asked while giving Lloyd a stack of papers.

"Of course it is. Just to be clear, we are not responsible for anything, understand?"

"...sure."

"Well then, behold, the Lancelot!" Lloyd and Cecile unveiled the knightmare. It was beautiful to say the least. It was white and gold, just like the key and pilot suit. On its forearms were flat plates that housed the blaze luminous shield and the slash harkens. The head was golden and the white armor enveloped it, looking almost like a helmet. The shoulders each had one large spike coming out of it. Overall, it was a knight in armor and it was ready for battle.

"The Lancelot is the world's first 7th generation knightmare frame. It has unparalleled performance and it's the strongest knightmare to date. Its armaments right now are only the shield and slash harkens but after it's fully completed, it will be armed with its VARIS rifle and MVS swords. The Lancelot is extremely quick and agile, but it is hard to pilot. To top it off, it doesn't have an ejection block!" Lloyd said while grinning madly. Suzaku's eyes widened, both in amazement and fear. "We...kind of blew our budget on the performance so it forgot to install the ejection system. But there will be no need for an ejection seat, right Suzaku Kururugi? If my Lancelot gets even a scratch…" Lloyd let the threat hang in the air. Suzaku could only gulp. That was the first time he'd seen the easy going scientist actually become serious.

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Kallen Kozuki was having a bad day, to say the least. First, Tamaki didn't follow the damn plan (not like he could do anything right). Second, Nagata died because of Tamaki's idiocy. Third, she was being chased by two Sutherlands. Fourth, her Glasgow only have one arm. And finally, her energy filler is just about to run out.

Now that she thought about it, everything was Tamaki's fault. "Damn, just 30 minutes left." Tears were gathering around Kallen's eyes. Not only was she probably going to die here, she would die knowing that it was her group's fault for causing this massacre. "Those damn Britannians!" She let her tears freely flow, releasing the emotions that she had held back. It wasn't good for a soldier to let their emotions interfere with their duty but since this was the end, there was no need to hold back.

Her communicator suddenly activated. "The west entrance. Use the tracks to move to the west entrance." If Kallen was capable of thinking rationally at the time, she would've probably realized that following the voice's orders was the only thing she could do at the moment. However, that was not the case.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Kallen Kozuki was, quite frankly, pissed and she was not in the mood to be obeying the orders of the mysterious voice coming from her communicator.

"That doesn't matter. If you want to win, trust me and follow my orders," the voice said calmly as if it had expected Kallen to be resistant.

_"To win?"_ Kallen thought. Before the voice came along, all she had focused her efforts on minimizing civilian casualties. The thought of winning hadn't crossed her mind. She did the voice told her to do and maneuvered her knightmare onto the railroad tracks. _"Not exactly the best place to be fighting."_ She was still being chased, and she started panicking. "Well? What am I supposed do now?" she yelled.

"You pathetic Eleven. If you simply run away, this hunt hasn't much to offer in the way of sport," one of the pilots in the Sutherlands chasing her said over an open channel. His arrogance made Kallen's blood boil and only motivated her keep trying to live.

"Since you trusted me, you're going to win. Jump on the train!" the voice said. As soon as he said that, Kallen noticed the train coming towards her and quickly jumped on it.

"Got it!" she said as she landed. However, she looked back and saw that one of the Sutherlands was still chasing her while the other was trapped by the train. "Crap, they're still on me! Any ideas, oh mysterious voice?" Much to her disappointment, he didn't responded.

"Was that all you got, Eleven? But then again, I shouldn't expect that much from an Eleven," the Sutherland pilot said, "The name is Jeremiah Gottwald. Commit it to memory because that is the name of the man that has defeated you!" The Sutherland raised its rifle to fire but a slash harken appeared out of nowhere and damaged the Sutherland and destroyed the rifle in the process. "What the f-" A stream of bullets hit Jeremiah, forcing him to eject. "Beaten by Elevens terrorists, how disgraceful. As if I haven't been humiliated enough already," Jeremiah admitted while his cockpit soared through the air. Kallen noticed that the second Sutherland was trapped by the train and took the chance to fire a slash harken at it, destroying the unit and causing the pilot to eject.

"Thanks but who are you?" Kallen asked but when she looked back at the place where she followed the cable to, nothing was there. Kallen sighed. _"Who was he?"_ Of course Kallen was just assuming the owner of the voice was male. She was thinking of the person's identity when her radio crackled to life and the voice she recognized as Ohgi's came through.

"Kallen, are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern. Ever since her brother Naoto died, Ohgi took it upon himself to fill the role of being Kallen's big brother than Naoto left behind.

"I'm okay but I heard some mysterious voice over the radio."

"Us too. It told us to meet you over here." Conveniently, the voice appeared once again.

"Are you their leader?" it asked Ohgi.

"Uhh I guess so." he said.

"I present to you the cargo inside the train. They're tools for your victory if you trust me of course." Ohgi and the others opened the train cars, which to their surprise, were full of brand-new Britannian Sutherlands. They could only stare at the knightmare frames in amazement and surprise.

"WHY WOULD WE NEED YOUR HELP? WITH THESE, WE COULD KICK SOME BRITANNIAN ASS AND WE DON'T NEED SOME RANDOM VOICE TELLING US WHAT TO DO!" a particularly obnoxious resistance member yelled.

"Tamaki, calm down! I don't know who this guy is but we should give him a chance since he gave us these Sutherlands." Ohgi reasoned. "Besides, your opinion is always wrong; it's the reason we're here right now!"

"SHUT UP OHGI!"

"Are you children done bickering now?" the voice asked. Before Tamaki could respond, Ohgi put his hand over his mouth.

"What are your orders?" Ohgi inquired.

"Get into the Sutherlands. They have similar controls to a Glasgow so they shouldn't be too hard to control. I'll give all of you your code names and orders in about 10 minutes. Woman in the Glasgow!" the voice ordered.

"Y-Yes?"

"Stay where you are. Your unit's running decoy, got it?"

"Understood."

"Energy filler status?"

"About 5%."

"Recharge it. Let's hope that you're as good as I think you are." Before Kallen could respond, the voice deactivated its radio.

* * *

A few hundred meters away from Kallen's position, Lelouch's knightmare was perched inside a building. Inside the machine, Lelouch was sweating bullets, which he quickly wiped off. The effort of turning a terrorist group into a force capable of beating Clovis's men exhausted him, and the lack of ventilation in the cockpit didn't help either. Lelouch took some deep breaths. "This is wearing me out. Cornelia must have some amazing endurance to be able to be the commander she is," Lelouch said to himself. _"Wait a minute. A sweaty Corne-GODDAMN HORMONES!"_ Lelouch quickly cut off that thought before lewd thoughts filled his mind. His thoughts then took a more serious turn. _"Regardless, I need determination to succeed. After all, I"m betting my life on this, and probably Nunnally's as well. If I die here, Nunnally will no one to care for her, and my identity will be revealed. That means that Nunnally will be put back into the Royal Family, and the Elevens will be killed because of my death!" _Lelouch twirled the black king chess piece he found in his hand. _This is no game. This is war! For everyone"s sake, I must win!"_ Lelouch said as he tightly clenched the king piece in his fist.

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto G-1**

"The terrorists are mixed with the Eleven populace and are mounting a minor resistance against us, but they pose little threat to our vastly superior forces," a corpulent, dark-skinned man with glasses said to the man behind him, Clovis la Britannia.

"Yes, we know that. The 'poison gas', which is what the public thinks it is, must be found! Remember, I want her dragged back here, dead or alive!" Clovis stood up, wearing a serious expression. "This is an order from Clovis la Britannia, 3rd prince of the Holy Britannia Empire! Complete it or there _will_ be consequences!" Clovis threatened. The people in the room paled.

"Yes, your highness!" they all shouted in unison.

* * *

Lelouch watched as the group he found ready themselves for the upcoming battle. People were moving various boxes and equipment, getting inside the knightmares, or testing the controls on the Sutherlands.

"Hey! Are you sure about this whole thing? These knightmares all have their IFF's removed. What is this is a trap?" the loud-mouthed one, Tamaki, asked.

"The enemy has the total advantage in this battle! They don't need to set any traps!" the leader, Ohgi, answered. Despite knowing him only for a little while, Lelouch could tell he was a natural leader. He was calm, smart, and knew how to organize a large amount of people with only a little chaos. All he needed was some confidence, but that could be easily attained with enough battle experience.

_"Good. At least someone in the group has a brain"_ Lelouch thought. "He's right. An IFF signal is a double-edged sword, as you will see once we enter this battle," Lelouch added.

"Can't you tell us who you are?" the frustrated Ohgi asked. "At least your name!" Lelouch frowned at his stupidity.

"I can't do that. What is these signals are being intercepted? But considering that you all have code names, I suppose it is only fair I give myself one." Lelouch wondered what he could call himself. He smirked as he realized what to call himseld. "For now, call me Zero." _"If the Emperor believes in absolute power, then I will be the opposite of that."_

"Zero? As in nothing?"

"Get to your positions! The enemy won't wait forever. Q-1!"

"Yes?"

"Are you on schedule?"

"Yes."

"I see. P-1, P-2, and P-3, 2 Sutherlands will reach your position in 56 seconds." Lelouch paused for dramatic effect before adding, "Shoot them through the wall." Instantly, Tamaki started laughing.

"You really are a jokester, aren't you? C'mon Ohgi, this guy is a joke! Let's just go out there and whip their asses!" Lelouch reminded himself to punish this imbecile if he ever becomes his subordinate.

"Everyone, double-check your weapons." Ohgi ordered, much to Tamaki's surprise. His finger eagerly hovered over the trigger button._ "Soon, those Britannians will know our pain!"_

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto G-1**

"Enemy spotted at point F-31!" a man called out. Clovis smirked.

_"What do they take me for, an idiot?"_ "A feint eh? How pedestrian. Bartley!" Clovis yelled at his subordinate.

"Yes, your highness! Tell Laso Squad to move in. Have Uvian and Valery strike from the rear!" he ordered.

* * *

Lelouch was closely watching his radar for the enemies. On it, he could see 2 Sutherlands approaching P Squad's position. Excitement filled him. _"Finally, I can strike back!"_ By his estimates, the enemies' Sutherlands would be behind the wall he told P Squad to shoot at in 34 seconds. _"This is also a test of loyalty. If they are people capable of helping me in my revolution, they would not question my orders. If they are disciplined and well-trained, they'd know that soldiers would obey first and ask later."_ The enemies were about to reach his comrades so Lelouch spoke into his radio, "Enemies are about to reach the kill position in 18 seconds. Shoot on my mark!" Fortunately, they all obeyed without a fuss, even that idiot Tamaki. _"Almost there."_ Lelouch smiled devilishly. _"Yes, waltz into my trap, fools."_ He decided that it was time to start the countdown. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, MARK!" he yelled. He looked at the radar and was pleased. Two of the enemies IFF signals disappeared and were replaced with LOST. Lelouch could only smirk at his victory. _"So the game begins." _His smile widened. _"Shall we play, Clovis? Let's see if you've improved after all these years."_

* * *

Ohgi's group could see the cockpits being ejected into the sky and couldn't help but cheer.

"We did it!"

"Hell yeah!"

"We got them Brits all right!"

"Everyone calm down!" Ohgi said, being the calm and rational person he is. "This is just one of many! We haven't won anything yet!" Ohgi's logic caused the happiness to die down in the group. The radio crackled out,

"He is right. However under my leadership, this can be just one of many battles you can win. I'll ask this again-do you trust me?" Zero's question lingered in the air. No one responded for several seconds before Ohgi replied,

"In all my time as a terrorist, I have never achieved anything remarkable. When you joined, I thought you were the one that can turn the tides in our struggle against. Only under your leadership can we truly hope to defeat the Britannians!" Ohgi turned to the rest of the resistance cell. "We must have faith in this Zero character! Before this, we were nothing, just a few insignificant terrorists. We all have to admit: We had no chance to drive Britannian out of our country! But with him." Ohgi gestured to the radio. "With him, we can actually win! We have accomplished little prior to this battle. Destroying 2 Sutherlands is a feat bigger than all our previous one's combined!" Ohgi paused before stating, "Zero could've killed all of us by now, but he hasn't. He has trusted us with these knightmares, and he deemed us worthy of his leadership. I say that only with Zero can our dream become reality. He is our only hope. If we don't take this chance, if we don't take the initiative and defeat Britannia here and now, our dream of defeating Britannia will remain a dream!" Ohgi took a deep breath before saying to the radio, "I will follow you, Zero."

For about a minute, silence ruled over the group. No one spoke, waiting to hear Zero's response. Suddenly, a quiet chuckling could be heard. Slowly, it escalated until it was full-blown laughter. The laughter then slowly died. "Ohgi, you truly are natural leader. I appreciate your speech, but I cannot have just one man following me. As a group, you all need to make a decision." Understanding what he said, Ohgi turned to his comrades.

"Our only chance is with him! It's either now or never! This decision can be the one free Japan's imprisonment!" The group was silent once again. Then, one lone voice said,

"Zero! Zero! Zero!" This chanting then quickly spread, until around 50 people were chanting, "ZERO! ZERO! ZERO!" Ohgi smiled at the scene.

"Well, Zero?"

"Very well then, let us achieve victory here!" The terrorists quickly voiced their approval.

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto G-1**

Men were furiously scrambling around the room while Clovis eyed at the scene with barely concealed anger. The once calm painters is, to be frank, pissed off at his pathetic excuse of an army. _"Damn those terrorists! At this rate, our forces will be defeated and Code R will be compromised." _He looked at the radar and saw the single red dot. This caused him to remember that his ass was getting beaten by a single unit. _"How is this possible? Not even the Knight of One, the strongest knight in the empire, can hold off this many enemies. It's clear that the pilot is skilled so I just have to increase my numbers. Gahhh, why can"t it just roll over and die like the bug it is?"_ "Bartley, surround that unit!" He pointed at the single red IFF signal. "Use Quincy's squad and crush it!"

"B-but your highness, that will break our formation!"

"Then spread our forces to cover the breach! This failure is unacceptable!" Clovis icily glared at his men, who were sweating bullets.

"Y-yes, your highness!"

* * *

Lelouch looked at the positioning of Clovis's forces and nearly laughed. _"Well that's a more stupid move than I expected. But then again, Clovis never was a thinker. He always did use brute force when he and Clovis played chess at Aries Villa. Even when I started with less pieces Clovis still lost. I guess it"s time to show him that he doesn"t belong on the battlefield." _"Q-1, do you have a map of the ghetto?

"Yes, but it has no current landmarks," she replied.

"It'll do," he said dismissively. "Take N Group and P Group and head underground. On my mark, aim your slash harkens at the ceiling and collapse it!"

"Understood!" she replied.

* * *

"Good, send in Burts and the others and surround it!" Clovis pointed at the lone red dot. "The enemy's' main force is centered on that unit. If we surround and concentrate fire on it, the enemy will be crippled!" Clovis watched in anticipation as his forces converged on that dot. Suddenly, said dot disappeared. "What, where is it?" he yelled. Soldiers sent in reports that the enemy disappeared. What he saw next shocked him.

* * *

"With this, I call check," Lelouch said calmly as he twirled the king piece in his hand.

* * *

"G-gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Clovis's forces in the battlefield screamed in terror as the ground beneath them collapsed. The knightmares did nothing to protect them as cockpits were crushed along with the pilots inside. When the dust cleared, nothing was left

* * *

Lelouch laughed maniacally. "HAHAHAHA MY PLAN WORKED, DIDN'T IT? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I CAN DO IT! I CAN DEFEAT BRITANNIA!" He continued laughing at the success of his plan.

* * *

Clovis and his men could only gape as over a third of his forces were destroyed in an instant. Their eyes were wide in fear as they tried to comprehend what was happening. Clovis stepped back as if the mystical force that destroyed his forces was coming for him next. _"Who in the hell am I up against? H-he's even better than Tohdoh! I bet that he can even take on Cornelia as well. I haven't been beaten this badly since when I challenged Schneizel to a game of chess." _He could only collapse onto his knees at his realization. _"I-I-I-I'm...done for." _He lost hope until a familiar face showed up on the screen.

"Why, heeeelloooo, your highness!" a blue-haired scientist said with glee in his voice.

"What is the meaning of this? We're in the middle of an operation!" Bartley exclaimed, clearly annoyed.

"I believe it's time for the A-6 Special Weapon to be deployed, considering we're getting our asses handed to us." Lloyd reasoned. A few minutes earlier and Clovis wouldn't have even considered the offer. However, he realized the situation he was in and decided that desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Can your toy beat them, Lloyd? Will it win?" Clovis asked. Most people wouldn't have noticed but he was _really _hoping the answer was yes. _"If their toy can beat these terrorists, I may be able to salvage this situation I'm in right now."_

Lloyd was not happy that his dear Lancelot was being called a toy and frowned in disapproval. "Please your highness, be so kind as to refer to it as Lancelot."

* * *

"OHH CEEEEECIIIIIILLLEEEE!" Lloyd cheerfully said. "We have permission to launch the Lancelot!"

"Fantastic! Suzaku?" Cecile said into her earpiece

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"We're ready to deploy. Have you read the manual?"

"Uhhh...pretty much." Suzaku said quickly, too embarrassed to admit that he actually used said manual as a pillow for a short nap and only read how to use its basic functions. He noticed a line of saliva on his chin before anyone noticed. _"For Lelouch's sake, I must defeat the terrorists! Hopefully, he's already gotten out of here." _Suzaku zipped up his pilot suit and entered the Lancelot's cockpit. He sat on the seat and put his hands on the controls. _"It's like to simulator,"_ he noticed. Suzaku put the white and gold knightmare activation key into the console. Immediately, the console responded, and Suzaku tensed his body in anticipation for the upcoming battle.

"Suzaku," Cecile's voice said over the radio. "The Lancelot will only have its slash harkens and blaze luminous shield for combat since it's a prototype model."

"Understood," he responded. _"Guess I didn't need to read the manual after all."_ Suzaku grinned at his luck.

"Remember, this is an actual battle. Simulators can only account for so many variables."

"Don't worry Cecile, I'll be fine," he reassured.

"Very well then, don't be reckless." He heard Cecile input some commands. "Lloyd, initial startup complete. The OS is working perfectly, and the weapons have been calibrated. Energy filler status is at 100%. Core Luminous functioning at 97% of its potential. Yggdrasil Drive has been activated and is operating as anticipated. Man-machine interface initiated. Primary and auxiliary power generators functioning at full capacity. All systems green, Lloyd." Lloyd's voice the said,

"Well this is only a prototype so it'll have to do. Ready, Suzaku?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. Cecile?" The person in question inputted a few more commands into the console.

"You are now authorized to launch, Suzaku." Suzaku took a deep breath and prepared himself for the battle ahead.

"Lancelot, M.E. Boost activate!"

"Z-01 Lancelot, now launching!" The Lancelot's landspinners activated, and the knightmare zoomed into the ghetto and disappeared from sight a seconds later.

* * *

Tamaki was having a bad day. Apparently it was his fault that the plan failed, which is complete BS in his opinion, and now they're following orders from some random voice that saved them from imminent doom. Way too convenient if you ask him. _"Stupid Ohgi," _he thought. _"Not my fault we"re in this fucking trapped in here."_ He stopped mentally ranting when he saw an enemy Sutherland in the distance. He forgot everything as his anger at Britannia rose to the surface. "DAMN BRIT!" he yelled as he fired his KMF assault rifle at the enemy. Tamaki must've been lucky because it only took his 5 and a half clips on ammunition to destroy the knightmare. "BOOYAHH. SUCK ON THAT BRITS!"

Unfortunately, Tamaki was so distracted by his victory that he didn't notice the white knightmare right behind him. The white knightmare used its slash harkens to hit the auto-eject mechanism between the cockpit and the knightmare itself.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Only after hearing the alarm blaring, and the many warning signs on the screens in the cockpit did he stop celebrating. "OH SHIIIIITTTT!" he screamed as his cockpit soared through the skies.

* * *

Lelouch was still laughing crazily. _"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA BRITANNIA WILL FALL! I WILL RAZE HIS DAMN EMPIRE TO THE GROUND USING THIS POWER!"_ He was interrupted from his maniacal musings when his radio crackled to life.

"This is B Squad! Reporting enemy reinforcements!" Lelouch immediately frowned.

_"Reinforcements? Well this is war so of course things would be different." _He picked up the radio and said, "Status?"

"Five units ejected. It destroyed them like it was nothing!" Lelouch grew more concerned with every word.

"Enemy numbers?"

"Just one! I think it's a new model; we've never seen anything like it. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The message ended with a loud and prolonged scream. Lelouch grimaced.

"What's happening out there?" he yelled. However, no one responded. _"Damn, B Squad just got wiped out." _Lelouch used his factospheres and focused on the area where B Squad was destroyed. An image of a white and gold knightmare came in to view on his monitors. "A new knightmare?" The knightmare then engaged with R Squad. He saw the terrorists shoot at the knightmare but the shots were stopped by some green force field on its forearm. "It can deflect bullets?" he asked. His eyes narrowed as he tried to find its weakness. _"It doesn"t seem to have any additional armaments besides the shield and its slash harkens. Therefore, CQC would be its only option," _Lelouch deduced. With newfound confidence, he picked up his radio and said, "N Squad, engage the white knightmare and keep your distance. N Squad, continue firing at it and slowly fall back!" He switched the channel on his radio. "P Squad, rendezvous with N Squad at point G-4! Q-1, you as well!"

"Understood." Ohgi, the leader of P Squad, replied.

"Fine," Kallen reluctantly said.

_"Let's see how you handle this," _Lelouch thought as his eyes narrowed to observe the battle.

* * *

The Lancelot used its slash harkens to launch itself in the air. Suzaku maneuvered the knightmare to spin around while moving towards the enemy knightmare. The Sutherland fired its rifle, but every round missed its target. Knowing the victory was unattainable, the pilot ejected to safety just before the Lancelot kicked the Sutherland with its landspinner and causing it to explode. _"Yes, I can do this! With the Lancelot, I can stop all of this!" _Suzaku stated passionately. He had walked through fields of corpses seven years ago, and the scene before him reminded Suzaku of the destruction he once witnessed. _"I was powerless before. But now…"_

He spotted another knightmare shooting at him and used his slash harkens to destroy it. _"Lelouch, wait for me. I"m coming for you, my friend!"_ Suzaku was about to perform his signature spin kick to destroy another Sutherland, but was interrupted by several bullets hitting the back of the Lancelot.

"KUUUUUUUUURUUUUUUUUUUURUUUUUUUUUUUGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Lloyd's voice screamed through the intercom. To be honest, Suzaku couldn't care less about what his superiors thought of him right now, but he needed to apologize to shut the man up.

"I'M SORRY MR. ASPLUND! I PROMISE THAT THE LANCELOT WILL NOT GET DAMAGED ANY FURTHER! HEY, HOW'S THAT COMBAT DATA YOU'RE GETTING?" Suzaku quickly said.

"Actually, the combat data is just fine! Your performance readings are off the charts! When this is over, I would like to make you the Lancelot's devicer. You're the last component needed for my Lancelot" A loud thump could be heard—"OW!"

"LLOYD!" Cecile scolded. Silently, Suzaku chuckled to himself. It was nice having relaxed superiors that didn't care that he was an Eleven. The radio went silent after Lloyd was repeatedly hit and lectured about his poor social skills. Suzaku continued dodging the many bullets that were coming his way.

_"They're trying to surround me. At this rate, I'll be completely overwhelmed." _He engaged his Blaze Luminous shield and charged at the knightmares in front of him while dodging the stream of bullets coming from behind him. The enemies in front of him kept shooting, but their efforts were in vain. Suzaku launched himself into the air and swung his slash harkens at the enemies. He made sure to hit the auto-eject mechanism on their machines; He wasn't a merciless killer. After taking out two enemies, he punched another and destroyed it. The last knightmare frantically tried to flee, but Suzaku's landspinner collided with its frame and hit the Yggrasil Drive.

"Grrrrrrrrr." Suzaku hissed as his side exploded in pain. "I just need"—he took a breath—"to hold out a little longer." He shot another slash harken at the last knightmare in front of him, causing the now useless machine to fall. Satisfied, Suzaku turned his attention to the terrorists behind him.

* * *

Lelouch's mouth was on the floor as he tried to comprehend the scene before him. _"It just annihilated N Squad," _he thought. His clenched his teeth in anger as the tide of the battle was being turned back into Clovis's favor. As much as he hated to admit it, there was no possible way that he could win. The white knightmare single-handedly destroyed B Squad, N Squad, and R Squad, a total of 18 knightmares. At the rate it's going at, all his forces will be destroyed.

He didn't want to retreat, but his choices were to either continue fighting and die along with the terrorists, or retreat and find a way to contact the terrorists. Ultimately, Lelouch was choosing either his pride or his life. Sighing, he reluctantly picked up his radio. "P Squad and Q-1, retreat!" The gasps of surprise could be heard over the radio. "At this rate, all of us will be defeated. I suggest you retreat and take care of those Sutherlands." Many people argued that they could defeat the white knightmare until a sole voice of reason cut through the chatter.

"Everyone, he's right! That knightmare defeated all the others. What chance do we have against it?" Lelouch smiled to himself. Finally, someone with a brain. "We must live to fight another day! Remember, we may lose this battle, but the war can still be won!"

_"He's very charismatic. No wonder he's their leader."_ Lelouch turned off his radio and watched his forced retreat. _"I need to stop Clovis and this damn massacre!"_ He said through gritten teeth. He was about to go to the G-1 Clovis was in, but he noticed that the white knightmare was looking directly at him. A second later, the knightmare was closing in on his location at an amazing speed. "Shit," Lelouch swore.

* * *

**10 minutes later**

Clovis was having the time of his life right now. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Clovis continued laughing like a mad mad at the situation. He had just turned the entire situation around. Prior to the launch of Asplund's toy, he was actually afraid of the measly terrorists. He, Clovis la Britannia, the 3rd Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, afraid of _terrorists!_ "Gentlemen, that's is how you win a battle," Clovis announced as he gestured to the retreating terrorists on the radar. "I suggest that you become more competent, or I will have your heads! To think that a prince should be helping his suboridantes do their jobs." Clovis scowled at the thought. "Such work is below me," he said arrogantly. "I can make you miracles such as this one that we have witnessed, but I'd prefer it if you actually did what you're paid to do."

"Yes, your highness!" his men said, trying hard not to point out the act that he did absolutely nothing to help the situation.

* * *

"Dammit," Lelouch cursed under his breath. He was being chased by the white knightmare after it had spotten him in his perch, and for a novice pilot, he was doing a great job at evading the knightmare. He jerked his machine to the left then to the right in order to dodge the slash harkens coming his way. He turned around and fired several bullets at the knightmare only for them to be blocked.

_"I'm still alive," _Lelouch commented. _"Maybe my mother's blood runs strongly within me. It could also be those military-grade knightmare simulators I won off some noble a few years back." _Lelouch continued running away from his enemy as he tried to think of a plan. _"I need to get to Clovis so I can stop this massacre. However…"_ Lelouch dodged what seemed like the 100th slash harken that went his way. "Grrr think Lelouch, think! It's only a matter of time before he gets me. Your king is being pursued around the board by the Queen. What do you do?" As he pondered that question, he remembered one of the many questions he asked his brother, Schneizel, about chess.

* * *

**8 Years Ago**

Lelouch stared hard at the chessboard before him. He was currently losing by a fairly large margin, and it was only a matter of time before Schneizel would put him in checkmate. His king was currently being chased around the board by the 2nd Prince's queen. The only other pieces on his side were two pawns and a knight, while Schneizel still has a rook, bishop, and 4 pawns. He was thinking about a way to win but the prodigious strategist couldn't come up with a solution. So he did the next thing that came to his mind: ask Schneizel.

"Brother Schneizel, what would you do if your king is being hunted down by the opponent's queen?" he asked as he gestured to the game between them. Schneizel flashed a knowing smile before answering his brother's question.

"Why the only think you _can_ do, of course."

"And what would that be?" Lelouch inquired. His brother gave him a small smile before saying,

"You GTFO, Lelouch."

"GTFO?"

"Yes, you GTFO. In other words, run away." Lelouch frowned at the lack of wisdom in his brother's words.

"That's not exactly going to help, brother Schneizel." The older brother chuckled mirthfully.

"Trust me, Lelouch. Knowing when to GTFO is an essential skill. For example, if you just walked in on father having sex, you GTFO. If Euphy's crying, and Cornelia sees that you're the only other person in the room, you GTFO. If you're working with terrorists in order to create a gentler world for your blind and cripped sister, and you're being chased by a white and gold knightmare, you GTFO." By the time Schneizel was finished talking about when to GTFO, Lelouch already had a notepad and pencil out and was taking notes on his brother's words.

"I see," Lelouch said as he took in Schneizel's words. _"If this is a skill I must learn in order to be successful, I will master it!" _he thought with determination evident in his eyes. His older brother looked at his younger sibling and couldn't help but be proud of him. "Brother Schneizel, someday, I will master how to GTFO and be the best there ever was!" he announced. The older prince ruffled his hair and lightly chuckled.

"I'm sure you will, Lelouch."

* * *

_"Well I don't know about the gentler world part," _Lelouch thought. He let hid thoughts wonder back to his current predicament. _"How has that knightmare not caught up with me, yet? Perhaps the machine was damaged, or is the pilot injured?"_

In an effort to slow the enemy knightmare, Lelouch turned his machine around and put it in reverse. While retreating away, he fired his rifle at the buildings around him and hoped the debris would crush it. However, the extremely agile machine simply dodged every single one and continued pursuing him. Disappointed, Lelouch rotated his knightmare back forwards and revved the machine to its maximum speed. "Dammit, that thing's unstoppable!" He focused on trying to get out of the situation, but a voice over an open channel disturbed his thoughts.

"Bastard! How dare you destroy things for no reason; those are people's homes!" Lelouch could immediately tell he was hurt from his voice.

_"So my suspicions are correct. Well, if he wants to argue about all this destruction, then so be it." _"The Britannian military has no right to talk about destroying peoples' homes! All you guys do is destroy, not once have you actually rebuilt!" Memories of fields of bloody corpses passed through Lelouch's mind as he continued arguing with the enemy pilot.

"You are doing the same here! You're no better!"

"Actually, I am better. These are no longer homes, but they are buildings. The difference between a home and a building is that a home is a place where one can be sheltered and can return to. All the people here are dead! Care to guess why?!"

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't stolen the poison gas, we wouldn't have had to come here!"

"An entire massacre of a ghetto cannot be justified!"

"If you want to change Britannia, then change it from within! You have to work with the system; despicable methods will gain you nothing!" At this point, Lelouch was getting tired of the idealistic imbelice that he's fighting.

_"Seriously? Work with the system?"_ "Are you kidding me? You can't work _with_ the system if the system itself is corrupt! Look at this massacre!" He gazed at their battlefield. Homes destroyed. Corpses littered the streets. Blood everywhere. "This is what your leaders have caused!"

* * *

Suzaku paused for a moment as he contemplated the man's voice. _"Can I really change Britannia? If what the guy's saying is true, then Prince Clovis was lying to us. Is change really possible?"_ Unfortunately, his musing was cut short when his opponent took notice of his hesitation and suddenly turned around and to fire at him. Suzaku, with his god-like reflexes, jerked his machine to the right and to avoid the hail of bullets coming his way. However, he grimaced as gunfire hit his landspinners, and the Lancelot fell over from the lack of a propulsion system.

"Dammit!" Suzaku cursed as he punched the monitor in frustration. "Grrr, they're getting away!"

"KURURUGI!" his eccentric superior's voice screamed through the radio. "MY LANCELOT IS DAMAGED BECAUSE OF YO—" Luckily, Cecile intervened and Suzaku heard a roll of paper used to smack his boss's head.

"Sorry, Suzaku! Unfortunately, your landspinners aren't functioning right now. I'm afraid that we'll have to pick you up." Suzaku frowned at the trouble that he was causing his superiors.

"I'm really sorry Ms. Cecile. Forgi—"

"It's okay, Suzaku. I was a pilot once so I know that mishaps like this happen time to time," Cecile's kind voice interrupted. Seeing that he might be a while before he can be retrieved, Suzaku relaxed his the cockpit and thought of the man's words once again.

_"You can't work with the system if the system itself is corrupt!" _The man's voice echoed.

* * *

Kallen hurried back to her group's hideout along with the remains of the resistance cell. _"Only if that white knightmare hadn"t come along, we would've won!" _Victory was a thought that was seldomly thought by the Japanese. Britannia had crushed them when they invaded, and countless Japanese are abused everyday by them. It was only logical for Kallen to be pissed off when victory had been offered to her on a silver platter, only for it to be snatched back. "Dammit, and we were so close too," she muttered as she entered the hideout. _"At least we managed to hide those Sutherlands in the tunnels where the Britannians can"t find them."_ Her thoughts then turned to the person who gave them the instructions to hide their new knightmares. _"Just who is this "Zero"?" _She was going to continue her thinking when loud chatter and yelling caused her to cover her ear drums. She turned to the loudest person in the crowd, which she knew without a doubt was Tamaki.

"Tamaki, SHUT THE HELL UP!" she screamed at her obnoxious, loud-mouthed friend. Said person turned to face the red-head with an irritated expression on his face.

"Not my fault, Kallen! Everyone won't shut the hell up!" he pointed out while waving his gun the air to further show his exasperation.

"It your fault! This is what happens when we oppose the Britannians!" one voice accused.

"What?! Grrrr, why you gutless coward!" he growled back.

"How many people were killed because of us?!" another exclaimed.

"Shut up! Do you know how many of us were killed or captured, do ya?!" The crowd continued to bicker and fight until a powerful and commanding voice silenced the group.

"Enough! Everyone keep quiet so the Britannians don't find us. We must keep calm!" he commanded, skills from his teaching days coming back to him. He turned to the red-head next to him. "Kal—"

"No, Ohgi. I don't have any ideas on who Zero is, and I'm pretty sure you don't either," she said. "Is there a way we can track him down?"

"Yes, Kallen. I can definitely find out the identity of a man with only his voice as a clue," he answered sarcastically. Unfortunately, this earned him a playful punch (But it still hurt like hell) from the feisty girl. "Sheesh, control your anger. I was only joking."

"Oh? Are you telling me that you got hurt by a light punch from an innocent, little girl?" She batted her best I'm-innocent-and-harmless eyes at him for extra effect, which quickly won the exchange for her.

"If only you weren't so cute," Ohgi said.

"Well I am so deal with it," she countered. Ohgi was going to make a retort, but a wall was destroyed, sending debris and dust all over the place. Everyone covered their eyes as dirt and dust assaulted the members of the resistance cell.

After several seconds, Kallen and Ohgi lowered their arms to look at the source of the destruction, only to be staring down the main barrel of a tank.

Tamaki pointed his gun at the tank in a futile attempt to intimidate the Britannian soldiers. "I told ya, Ohgi! Instead of following someone we _don"t even know_, we should've use the fucking poison gas!" he complained. Ohgi ignored him and analyzed the situation.

"Damn, we're trapped in here." He turned to the hot-tempered teen next to him. "Kallen, get out of here!" he hissed.

"No way, Ohgi! I'm not leaving you behind!"

"You have to live! If not for me, then for Naoto!"

"There's no way I can get out of here, Ohgi. We're surrounded!" she said.

_"Damn it, she's right."_ Ohgi felt tears run down his face as memories of him, Kallen, and Naoto flooded his mind. _"I'm so sorry Naoto. I couldn't protect her." _His crying stopped however, when he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Ohgi. You didn't fail; I did, or rather Tamaki did," she quietly said with a chuckle. Ohgi chuckled in response, then turned his attention back to the Britannians.

"So this is where you Eleven scum have ran off to. Hmph, all troups, prepare to fire!" He raised his right hand as soldiers cocked their rifles and aimed at the terrorists.

"On my mark! Three! Two! One!"

_"I'm sorry, Naoto!"_

"Mar—"

"Attention all forces, cease fire at once!" the familiar voice of Clovis commanded through the radio. Instantly, everyone looked at the radio in surprise. Why would Clovis command a cease-fire? "I, Clovis la Britannia, Third Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and royal viceroy of Area 11, hereby you to cease fire at once! All destruction of any buildings or property will be cease, as well! All casualties, whether Britannian or Eleven, will be treated equally and without prejudice. In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you are hereby ordered to cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting!"

* * *

**Shinjuku Ghetto G-1**

The lights were off in the command G-1 as Clovis la Britannia looked at the intruder who forced him to order the cease-fire. "Well, are you satisfied?"

"Very, well done," the man praised. He stepped forward into the light where Clovis could see him. It was a soldier in a standard combat suit. He had his helmet on so Clovis couldn't see his face. More importantly, he held a gun in his hand, which was unfortunately pointed at the prince. Seeing no other options, Clovis propped his arm on the armrest on his throne and rested his head on his hand and waited for what the man had to say.

"So what do you want to do now? Sing a few lively songs? Perhaps some tea and scones? Shall I introduce you to some lovely women? Or maybe I can interest you in a game of chess?" he said. The man stepped closer to Clovis, gun still pointed directly at him.

"Chess? Now that has a familiar ring to it." Surprised, Clovis raised his eyebrow.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You don't remember? We used to play chess together when we were boys at Aries Villa. Of course, I would always win." At the mention of Aries Villa, Clovis tensed and started panicking.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" he demanded. Before he could make any further inquiries, the man cocked his gun, which meant "shut up, or I'll blow your brains out."

"You don't remember? I'm hurt," he said sarcastically. Clovis's mind was racing to try and remember of a boy from his childhood who had a grudge against him. Sadly, he doesn't remember the man's identity. Who would have a grudge against Clovis, the playful painter anyway? Thanfully, the man stepped into the light where Clovis could see me. The man, no boy that was threatening him was a _very_ familiar face from his childhood.

"Lelouch?" he muttered, clearly surprised. Was this boy really him? His eyes were as large as saucers, and he quickly stood up and leaned closer to the boy to see if it was truly his long-lost younger brother.

"Yes, you're indeed correct Clovis. It's been a while, big brother." Lelouch stepped forward and kneeled in front of Clovis with his right arm behind his back, and his left arm straight across his chest. Clovis could only gape as his brother looked up and paralyzed him with his large, mystical, amethyst eyes. "The eldest son of the late consort Marianne and 17th in line to the imperial throne. Lelouch vi Britannia at your service," he announced.

The shock at seeing his exiled sibling was too much for Clovis, and he subconsciously took a step back.

"But you're de—"

"Dead? Oh I can assure you that I'm very much alive, Clovis." They joy of seeing his big brother again was outweighed by the danger he was in. They were alone in a dark room, and Lelouch was armed while Clovis was not. Judging from Lelouch's expression and tone, this wasn't going to end well for Clovis. "I have returned your highness, and I've come back to change everything."

"I'm overjoyed, L-Lelouch. W-we should d-depart for the mainland immediately," Clovis said shakily. The gun pointed right at his head didn't exactly help either. "They said you died when Britannia invaded, but I knew that my younger brother wouldn't die that easily." Unfortunately for Clovis, flattery didn't work on Lelouch.

"And why should I do that? So that pathetic excuse of a father can use me as his pawn again?!" With each word, Lelouch's anger and voice rose. Just thinking of _that_ man sickened him. "You seem to have forgotten, Clovis. Perhaps I can recall your memory." He lowered his weapon, but left the safety disengaged so Clovis wasn't safe yet. "Marianne vi Britannia held the title of Knight of Honor, but was a commoner by birth. No doubt that the other imperial consorts held her in contempt. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists, I'm no fool." Lelouch raised his gun and jammed the barrel into Clovis's forehead. "YOU PEOPLE KILLED MY MOTHER!"

"L-Lelouch, it wasn't me!" Surprisingly, Lelouch stepped back and lowered the gun.

"Oh, we'll find out soon, big brother," Lelouch said. The thought of how he was going to get the truth scared Clovis.

"W-what will you do?" he asked nervously. At this question, Lelouch only smirked.

"First, I'll force the truth out of you. Then, I'll discredit your name." Lelouch grinned evilly as he activated his power.

* * *

**10 minutes later**

When Lelouch's power deactivated, Clovis tensed in fear at the sight of the gun pointed directly at him. He recalled that Lelouch wanted to know who killed his mother and immediately spoke, "I SWEAR LELOUCH! IT WASN'T ME!" He hid behind his raised arms in an attempt to escape from his brother's intense gaze. Fortunately, Lelouch lowered his gun and stepped forward. Clovis sighed in relief but his fears came back to him as Lelouch put the barrel of his firearm directly on his head. "Y-you intend to kill me?! But we're brothers!"

"You've changed Clovis,' he said solemnly."Why did you kill all these people?" he asked calmly, trying very hard to hide the disgust in his voice.

"They're w-were just E-Elevens," he reasoned.

"Elevens?!" Lelouch spat out the word. "How disgusting, Clovis."

"You're going to kill me?! You monster!" Clovis screamed in anger. Lelouch didn't even flinch at his tone.

"I will burn _his_ empire to the ground, and I'll start with you." He cocked the gun. "I will create a new world, a peaceful one. But as long as _he _stands in my way, that world cannot be created. If I have to stain my hands with evil to destroy evil, then so be it. If my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. If it will give me the power to change this world, then I will welcome the darkness with open arms! If the world will not change, then I, a king, will destroy it and create it anew!"

"P-please Lelouch, don't do it!"

"Goodbye, Clovis." A single bullet embedded itself into the prince's skull, commencing the start of his revolution.

* * *

**Tokyo National Airport**

**1:07 AM**

The cold air attacked a young girl's coat relentlessly. The moon shined its light on two figures: a young 17 year-old girl, and a well-built man in his 30s. Both of them had just gotten off their private airplane and were waiting patiently for their ride to pick them up. The man and the teen were dressed very nicely. The girl wore a fleece jacket and a white blouse underneath. Unfortunately, her thigh-long skirt did little to protect her from the merciless cold. The moonlight shined beautifully off her dazzling blond hair, and her striking blue, cerulean eyes made the moon itself envious. Her face revealed nothing, and her posture was that of a princess's.

Beside her, the man was wearing a formal black and white business suit, which hid his large muscles well. His gaze was cold and calculating, and he was alert for any possible dangers to his charge.

"If I may ask, Leona, why are we here?" the man asked politely. The girl smiled, and turned to her guard.

"Why, for Lelouch vi Britannia, of course," she said, a predatory glint in her eye.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was long. _Very long._ At least you guys have a lot of material to read. Moving on, let's talk about the fanfic itself. Regarding the story, I do have a lot of ideas on what to do with it. If all goes well, this story should be deviating from canon in a few more chapters (which won't be nearly as long). ****For pairings, I haven't decided yet. Mostly likely, this will be a LelouchxHarem or a C. story, but no gurantees. Oh and there won't be a romantic relationship between Suzaku and Lelouch, which will either be a godsend or disappointment depending on your tastes. ****Updates will be about once a month if all goes well. ****Once again, I encourage you guys to review and ask questions. Even if you're just going to bash me, just review. **


	2. Chapter 2: Balls vs Boots

**A/N: Well, my first chapter got a lot more support than I anticipated. Thank you for your support! It really does mean a lot to me. **

**I'd would've liked to get this chapter out earlier, but TBH I'm lazy…**

**Some of you are concerned about my decision to include an OC, which are normally not well received. I'll try to implement her well, but if any of you are like "OMFG OC! DIE IN HELL!" then it'd be best if you left now. **

**I'm going to attempt to develop Lelouch and my OC in this chapter. Let me know if it actually works out.**

**Expect the story to stick somewhat closely to canon for now. I'm still trying to get the hang on writing fanfiction.**

**Well, that's about it. Time for a new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. If I did, I'd have Suzaku executed, and his bloody corpse fed to werewolves.**

* * *

**Pendragon Imperial Palace**

**2010 a.t.b.**

**(A/N: Don't worry if you get confused by this first part.)**

"Introducing his highness, Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince of the Empire!"

The large double doors opened, revealing a small, 10 year-old boy clad in a black and silver outfit. He gracefully entered the large room, ignoring the several gasps and pairs of eyes that targeted him. The loud chatter had been reduced to nothing by the boy's presence, the loud and rowdy people transformed to silent spectators by the aura the person radiated. Even the clamorous reporters were silenced. He slowly and deliberately walked towards the large man sitting on the throne, the emperor, in front of him. The boy's was unreadable and betrayed nothing as he calmly continued forward. The emperor eyed the boy, analyzing the boy's actions and expression. However, he could draw nothing from his son. The small but intimidating figure practically emitted confidence and power, reminding the man of his younger self. However, the emperor was not the only one to notice the sudden change in Lelouch's demeanor.

_Who is that?_

_Is that really him? _

_What happened?_

"Lelouch, is that really you?" a purple-haired woman quietly asked to herself. She was scrutinizing her younger half-brother, looking for any signs of the former Lelouch. Not finding anything, she began to weep silently, but a gentle hand rested on her shoulder.

"He's changed, Cornelia. He was going to have to learn how cruel the world is at some point in his life. It's unfortunate that he had to learn it now. Death changes everyone and can reduce the most hardened people into sobbing messes. The fact that he's composure is still intact is a testament of his will." Cornelia turned around to find her blond-haired older sibling, Schneizel, behind her with his hand on her shoulder in order comfort her slightly. "The best we can do is stick with him and pray that his mother's willpower is present within him as well." Cornelia nodded. Lelouch was a vi Britannia. He's the son of Marianne vi Britannia, one of the most admirable people that existed on the face of the Earth.

She smiled at her older brother, appreciating that he was trying to console her. Cornelia turned her attention back to Lelouch, but she was distracted by her younger sister at her side.

"Lelouch is so cool!" the pink-haired girl said.

"And he looks _fabulous_, as well. His choice in wardrobe is amazing!" said Cornelia's other blond sibling. Cornelia just sighed in exasperation.

"Clovis, Euphemia, just watch." All eyes turned to the Eleventh Prince as kneeled in front of the emperor.

"Good evening, your majesty. I have come, as you requested" He looked up to stare at his father in the eye.

"Tell me Lelouch, what do you think of Marianne's murder last week?" he asked in his deep, booming voice. _Let's see if you can pass my test, boy_, he thought.

"Marianne vi Britannia's murder was a prime example of failure," he replied. The emperor was stunned. He fully expected Lelouch to go on about how her murder was horrible and he should do something about it.

"You are…correct, my son. Marianne failed; she was weak. It seems that my blood runs far stronger in you than that woman's." At this point, Charles was improvising. Things aren't going according to his plans at all. _It seems that my son has me in checkmate_, he thought. However, Lelouch only chuckled at this response, which elicited several raised eyebrows, even from the emperor himself.

"Oh, you must be mistaken, you majesty"—he stood up and looked at his father right in the eye, amethyst orbs silently challenging violet eyes—"I'm referring to _your_ failure," he declared. The audience gasped at the young prince's audacity. The emperor clenched the arm rests on his throne in anger. How dare he?! "You, the emperor of the most powerful empire in the world, could not stop the murder to an innocent woman." Lelouch started walking up the stairs to the throne. No one made a move to stop him. Charles looked at his son and contemplated his words.

_I couldn't even stop my beloved wife from dying. Am I truly powerful?_ he thought. He raised his head to look at Lelouch in the eye, but instead found a tall seventeen year-old boy in a black and gold school uniform in his place.

"You are weak! You, the most powerful man in the world, are a despicable person and an even worse father!" the teen yelled.

_I-I am despicable. I am a terrible person. Am I even fit to be called a father?_ Charles thought. He paled at the realization. Tears flowed from his eyes like rivers cascading down a mountain. "I-I'm sorry, my son. I don't know what to say." He got off his throne, went on his kneed, and looked up at the young man before him with his tear-filled eyes. "I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness. Tell me, how can I atone?" He desperately wanted to get rid of the guilt in his evil-ridden heart. His son continued frowning at him.

"I believe we all know what needs to be done, father." Even though Lelouch didn't specifically mention it, Charles knew what had to be done. He recomposed himself and stepped forward.

The emperor looked at the sea of people before him and said, "People of Britannia! Today, I have seen the errors of my ways. I've realized that I was wrong. My ideology is wrong, my empire is wrong, my existence is wrong. My sins are despicable, and I can only hope to atone"—he took a deep breath—"As of today, I name Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, the 99th Emperor!" Cheers erupted from the audience at Charles's proclamation. He took a pistol of out his coat and pointed it his temple. "ALL HAIL LELOUCH!" The gun went off, and the 98th Emperor fell to the floor dead. However, the audience paid it no heed.

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

Lelouch just sat on his throne with his legs crossed, a smug grin on his face. The chanting continued until the doors were slammed open. Two figures stepped into the room, and Lelouch's jaw hit the floor. "Mother? Nunnally? You're healed?" Said people sprinted up to the newly proclaimed emperor and embraced him.

"Big brother, the doctors said it was a miracle!"

"Oh Lelouch! Thank you for getting read of daddy! I never liked him!" Lelouch just stood there, shocked at the events that were unfolding before him.

_Mother's alive? Nunnally's healed? It truly is a miracle!_ he rejoiced mentally. Marianne and Nunnally let go of Lelouch and went down to the base of the stairs where they kneeled.

"ALL HAIL HELOUCH!"

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

"L HAIL LELOUCH!"

"HAIL LELOUCH!

"AIL LELOUCH!"

"LELOUCH!" Lelouch frowned. Why is the chanting getting disoriented? Slowly, the sound of the crowd's cheering mixed together until it became one female voice. It seemed so familiar, but Lelouch wouldn't remember where he heard the voice from before.

Suddenly, the room disappeared, and Lelouch's surrounding became completely white. He flinched as he heard people speaking. He spun around and did a quick analysis of his surroundings and found nothing. Not knowing what was going on, Lelouch stood still and listened into the voices' conversation.

"Is this really necessary, Milly?"

"Of course!"

"Don't hurt him too bad, Madame President."

"Don't worry Shirley. I won't leave any bruises on you boyfriend's face."

"MADAME PRESIDENT!" Lelouch heard the sound of papers being rolled up and widened his eyes at the realization of what was happening.

"Shit."

THUMP!

* * *

**ASEEC Mobile Center**

"Ahhhhhh! Nothing like reading some YAIO fanfiction after a long day of work!" Suzaku leaned back on his chair and stared intently at the computer screen. "Hmmm, which one should I read now?"

THUMP!

"Huh, what was that? Someone must've gotten hit. I'd hate to be the person who's on the receiving end of that!"

* * *

**Dagobah**

THUMP!

"Hmmm, a disturbance in the force there was."

* * *

**Hyperbolic Time Chamber**

"Hey, maybe if I can scream loud enough, I can get back to the real world!" a short kid with long, spiky blond hair said.

"Don't be ridiculous!" a green-skinned man said.

THUMP! After the sound faded, a portal appeared.

"See, Piccolo?!"

* * *

**Valley of the End**

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

THUMP!

"AHHHHHH, MY EARS!"

"GAHHHHH I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!"

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" both teens said in unison.

* * *

**United States of America**

THUMP!

"What the hell? How did that get to here? I thought I was _writing_ this fanfic?!"

* * *

**High Hrothgar**

"Now Dragonborn, SHOW ME YOUR POWER!"

"FUS RO DAH!"

THUMP!

"BY THE GODS! THAT 'THUMP' IS EVEN MIGHTIER THAN YOUR VOICE, DRAGONBORN! YOU ARE NOW USELESS IF YOUR VOICE CAN BE SURPASSED! I WILL NOW KILL YOU WITH MY COMPLETELY USELESS AND IMBALANCED DESTRUCTION MAGIC!"

* * *

**Ashford Academy**

THUMP!

"OWWWWWWWWWWW! What the hell, Milly?!" Lelouch glared at the demon-disguised-as-a-teenager in front of him who was brandishing a roll of papers. He took the chance to scrutinize his surroundings and found that he was back in the Ashford Academy Student Council room. Regaining his bearings, he looked at the room's occupants.

First, there was Milly. Despite how cruel and abusive she can be, she is still one of Lelouch's closest friends and confidants. To a stranger, Milly would seem to a rude, bossy teen that did whatever she wanted due to her status as the principal's daughter, but Lelouch knew better. His childhood friend can certainly be those things at times, but she does have her good side. She is kind, caring, compassionate, and understanding, all good traits for a friend.

Milly is smart, kind, funny, rich, and confidant, characteristics that would make any normal girl mad with envy. Lelouch met Milly while he was still a Britannian prince in Pendragon. He doesn't remember much about how he met Milly. All he knew is that he asked her for a dance, and the night ended with him dripping wet, tuxedo shredded, and Milly rolling around on the floor laughing her ass off. After that night, Milly would stay in Ares Villa for several weeks and play with him and his siblings.

Eventually, Lelouch and Milly became close friends. When Lelouch escaped from the Kururugi Shrine, he sought the Ashfords for help, partially because he knew they were allies, and because Milly was there.

Lelouch's thoughts focused on his blue-haired friend, Rivalz who said, "Well consider in punishment for ditching me! Seriously, do you know how heavy that motorcycle is? Oh wait, what am I saying?" He kneeled before Lelouch and said with a mocking tone, "You have the physical strength of a child. Of course you wouldn't lift anything weighing over 100 pounds willingly. Forgive me for my ignorance, your highness." At the mention of the honorific, Lelouch froze. He knew that his friend was just joking around; nevertheless, it made him think of the time when he was a prince of the empire.

Rivalz Cardemonde is…well truth be told Lelouch doesn't know a lot about his friend. He was very laid-back, tended to joke a lot, his gambling buddy…and not much else. Oh, and he had blue hair. That's right, fucking blue hair. Aside from that, Rivalz always seemed to be more than your average high school student as if he was suppressing his true nature, but Lelouch has yet to discover what made Rivalz unique. Rivalz, despite his honest personality, preferred not to talk about certain things, mainly his upbringing.

The few times Lelouch mustered up the courage to ask his friend about his past, all he got were some pathetic attempts to change the subject. It's obvious even to someone like Shirley that the subject wasn't exactly pleasant if he refused to talk about it. But then again, Lelouch couldn't blame him. After all, his past isn't an enjoyable topic for him either.

Like Rivalz, he wore a mask to deceive his friends, something he would've preferred not to do, and didn't talk about his past. The entire school knew that Lelouch and Nunnally's pasts weren't something to bring up in a conversation. In fact, the matter even made the normally cheerful and up-beat Nunnally frown, something that anyone who knew her thought was impossible since the notion of Nunnally being upset was a preposterous as Lelouch being athletic.

"That's right, where were yesterday, Lulu?" the girl next to him asked, bringing Lelouch out of his stupor. When Lelouch refused to admit it, she started yelling at him. "LELOUCH LAMPEROUGE, I COMMAND YOU TO TELL ME WHERE YOU WERE!"

It was no surprise that she was this concerned for her not-so-secret crush. Her obsession with the Ice Prince was famous in the school, and she was probably his most devoted follower, which was saying a lot considering Lelouch's fan club. His regal and royal looks, icy but somehow kind façade, and astounding intelligence were quite renowned and drove girls to him by the dozen.

Back to Shirley, her next noticeable trait is her beauty, primarily her…bust size. According to the unofficial Ashford Academy magazine, she was ranked 3rd hottest female in the school, with the infamous Milly Ashford taking the top place, and the redhead Kallen Stadtfeld being the runner-up.

However in another edition of said media, she was in 2nd place for "Most Desirable Girl" because Kallen's illness prevented her from participating in more…rigorous activities. However, sans her appearance and obsession, the next thing one would notice was Shirley's pleasantness. She was kind and very enthusiastic about pretty much everything, even to some of Milly's ideas.

"I DEMAND ORDER IN THE COURT!" Everyone turned to the Student Council President. "We need to rebalance our budget, and we need to do it NOW!" She paused, and suddenly, her tone was dark and menacing. She pointed her finger at Rivalz. "If we don't, that'll be 50 lashes for you." The abusive president directed her evil smile towards Shirley. "You, Shirley Fenette, will give your body to me." Shirley blushed in embarrassment at the mention of her body, then audibly gulped as she realized what the punishment for failure would be.

Milly turned to the girl typing on her computer in the corner of the room. "And for you, I'll take your computer away FOR ETERNITY!"

Ahhh Nina. At a glance, Nina would seem like a xenophobic, which was true. Aside from the Student Council, Nina had no social life unless you counted going on online forums and ranting on about her hatred of the Japanese with other people a social life (Her impressive range of derogatory insults was the first thing he noted).

Naturally, Nina was shy and didn't trust others easily like Lelouch. She didn't converse with others often, even the Student Council, instead preferring the company of her computer where she went did research for some kind of work that involved Uranium isotopes. Whatever she was working on, Lelouch didn't press further into the matter since everyone had their secrets, him especially. After all, it wasn't like she was working on some bomb to decimate the Japanese.

Rivalz, Shirley, and Nina turned their heads towards Lelouch as they waited for what Milly would threaten him with. She walked towards the boy, bent down, and stared at him with her gorgeous blue eyes. "And for you, my dear vice president, if you fail,"—she paused dramatically—"Nunnally and I will have a bit of 'fun' tonight," she stated with her most evil grin plastered on her face.

Everyone scrambled and papers were sent flying as the Student Council rushed to complete their task.

**20 Minutes Later**

"I've never written so fast in my life; the lead on my pencil melted!

"She. Is. Such. A. PERVERT!"

"At least my lab data is safe."

"She may be the only person who can threaten Nunnally and get away with it..." The Student Council with the exception of Milly was walking back to class after their tortur-err meeting. They continued walking down the hallway, complaining about their slave dri-err Milly when Rivalz asked,

"So Lelouch, where _were_ you? You just disappeared!"

"Yeah, you also asked about Shinjuku. Why?" Shirley added. With Rivalz and Shirley suspicious of his activities, Lelouch needed to lie to them to ease their suspicions.

"Well you see Rivalz, I went after that truck that crashed. Unfortunately... I fell inside," Lelouch sheepishly added. His friends just shook their heads at the raven-haired teen.

"Lelouch, as noble as that is, that was dangerous!"

"Yeah, Lulu! What if you got hurt?!"

"And they might've been Elevens…" Lelouch grit his teeth at Nina's derogatory remark. However, he knew better than to comment on her beliefs. Nina as a xenophobic, and her history with Elevens didn't help with her opinions on them. Several years ago, Nina's parents were killed a terrorist attack. An Eleven terrorist group were blamed for the attack, and Nina's hated them ever since.

_Poor girl_, Lelouch thought. He noticed that his friends were looking at him and realized he hasn't answered them. "Well, I guess it was just a lapse of judgment," he said. "I noticed that nobody was helping so I took the initiative and went down there to help. After falling in, I waited until the truck stopped and snuck out. I walked to the nearest train station and rode one back home." Fortunately, they believed his lie. They continued walking down the hallway and arrived at their classroom. Instantly, they were bombarded with sounds of gunfire, screams, and new reports.

"They used poison gas?"

"Man, that's freaky. Shinjuku's only 30 minutes from here."

"Damn Elevens. They definitely got what they deserved."

"I saw smoke coming from the ghetto. It must've been the gas!" Once again, Shirley became suspicious of her crush and turned to Lelouch.

"Is that why you called me yesterday?" Lelouch nodded.

"Yeah, I heard the news from a friend of mine." Lelouch flashed a smile towards Shirley to help ease her worries, which worked. Shirley melted like ice in a hot summer day. Normally, Lelouch wouldn't dare to exploit his friends' weaknesses, but he made exceptions from time to time.

_It for your good, Shirley_, he thought. _I don't want my friends who've given me so much happiness to be caught a in my rebellion. As for Clovis's death, how long are they going to hide-_Lelouch realized his mishap too late, and his eyes widened as he recalled how he killed his own brother.

For a moment, he could see the fear in his brother's eyes, feel his rage give way to satisfaction when Clovis's blood splattered onto him, and the myriad of feelings that were fighting for dominance in his mind.

Was he supposed to be happy? Sad? Sickened? Satisfied? Clovis alienated him, so why did he feel regret when he pulled the trigger? Lelouch remembered what he said to him before his death.

_"I will burn__his__empire to the ground, and I'll start with you." He cocked the gun. "I will create a new world, a peaceful one. But as long as__he__stands in my way, that world cannot be created. If I have to stain my hands with evil to destroy evil, then so be it. If my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. If it will give me the power to change this world, then I will welcome the darkness with open arms! If the world will not change, then I, a king, will destroy it and create it anew!"_

Do the ends truly justify the means? Was killing his own kin the right decision? Lelouch frowned. For all his intelligence, he wasn't quite that wise.

Feeling sick from the scenes of 3rd Prince's death playing in his mind, Lelouch excused himself, ran down the hallway (a leisurely jog by others' standards), and threw open the bathroom door.

Lelouch emptied his stomach's contents inside the sink, and proceeded to wash his face. He looked at the mirror and frowned as he recollected his thoughts. _Am I really prepared for this? Am I willing to do anything and everything to change the world?_ Lelouch continued pondering the question. _Is becoming like my father the price I have to pay to change the world?_

* * *

**Tokyo Settlement Park**

"Well of course you want to find Lelouch. After all, he did beat you in chess and emptied your and my wallet afterwards," Butler commented rather mirthfully. Unexpectedly, her charge retaliated for his snide remark. What he didn't expect however was for her to use _that _technique. One so ancient, so legendary, so infamous and _extremely_ effective.

She rammed her steel-toed combat boots into his genitals.

The bodyguard immediately fell to the ground. The man clutched his throbbing privates in pain and hissed as the feeling didn't subside. Somehow, a part of his mind that wasn't processing the hurt in his nether region was impressed that she managed to turn around and execute a roundhouse kick to his testicles, all while remaining a blur even to his remarkable eye.

"Hmph, that should teach you," the blond said as she towered over him, her hands on her hips. "I thought it was common sense that you don't piss off me of all people?" Butler mentally smacked himself. Of course, that was one of the things he quickly learned over the years he was watching over Leona Gradstein. At first, he passed her off as a usual noble. Arrogant, stupid, incompetent alone, and cruel. While she is somewhat cruel, his assumptions were quickly proven wrong. Unlike most people, she had what it took to back up her arrogant talk. She was also _extremely_ competitive and always looked for a challenge, and was anything _but_ incompetent.

At the age of 5, she was tutored by the best professors Britannia had to offer. She was skilled in mathematics, science, physics, literature, and even foreign languages. Unlike some people, Leona knew how to apply her knowledge of science and math in the real world, more specifically on the battlefield.

Leona was also trained by Marianne vi Britannia herself, excelling in military tactics, strategy, and knightmare piloting. Her skills at the age of 7 were on par with Cornelia li Britannia, another apprentice of the late empress. The fact that Cornelia was a decade older only the fact more unbelievable.

Marianne herself even stated in front of the entire royal court that "Leona will become the next 'Flash', a claim so bold that practically everyone who had been in the room dropped their jaw at their statement. The Flash's skills in knightmare piloting were legendary. Her proficiency made the 2 ton machines move in ways that no one though possible. Even Bismark Waldstein admitted that he was at her mercy in battle.

After everyone picked their jaws off the floor, the 5th Empress introduced them to the amazing child she had such confidence in. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by her son, Lelouch vi Britannia. He protested that as her son, _he _was the one that was going to inherit her title. Leona argued against him and challenged him to a duel of knightmare piloting, setting the stage for the two's first clash. The fight was long and ended in a stalemate, but the end result was a laughing Marianne, the two grudgingly acknowledging each other as equals and rivals (much to the dismay of their egos), and over 12 million dollars in property damage (no one knew Clovis secretly had a bed made out of diamonds).

Normally, a noble's parents would not allow their child to learn such "trivial" matters, but Leona's parents were unique in that regard. They allowed her to learn any subject, no matter how farfetched because they believed that a girl of Leona's caliber should not be limited in her talents.

Butler smiled as he recalled the two rivals would have. Everything from chess to Britannian history. Lelouch was the prodigious son of the 5th empress, skilled in practically everything but athletics. While he was pathetically weak and had the stamina of a sloth, he more than compensated for his weakness with his mastery of practically everything else. Lelouch was certainly the most likely to succeed the throne, only being contested by the Second Prince, Schneizel.

He exceeded in everything related to the military. He effortlessly wiped the floor with Cornelia and Leona in tactics and strategy, no doubt annihilating the two girls' egos in the process. Lelouch's mastery of the knightmare frame, which was undeniably inherited from his mother, surpassed everyone's including Leona's after year(much to her chagrin), excluding her mother's and Bismarck's, the current Knight of One, but even then he managed to keep up with them.

There was no need to mention how well Lelouch did in traditional studies either. Being a royal, he learned from the best teachers, but he quickly put them to shame with his massive knowledge of pretty much everything. His tutors became his pupils as he used his vast sea of knowledge to lecture his professors on his new theories and ideas, mainly related to military technology, which combined with his expertise in engineering allowed him to help create the third generation of knightmares and his mother's Ganymede.

He was also extremely cunning and manipulative, so deceptive that Schneizel himself would be wary of facing against Lelouch in any fight, be it politics or battlefield.

His charisma was extraordinary to the point where he could invoke practically any emotion into everyone who hears his voice. If one was to witness him charming a crowd, he or she would think that Lelouch was a siren with the way he drew others to him like it was nothing. His ability allowed him to be an extremely dangerous opponent in politics where he could gain support with ease, and the battlefield, increasing his troops' moral and rallying them to his cause.

_Shame he had to die_, Butler thought, _He could've changed the world if he put his mind to it_. Butler stood up and brushed off the dirt that clung to his clothing. The 30 year old sprinted to Leona's side who had walked away while he was reminiscing. Matching her stride, they resumed the conversation they were having.

"So, are you going to tell me why we're here?"

"Simple. We're going to find Lelouch and improvise from there," she responded. Butler raised an eyebrow at her plan and frowned.

"One shouldn't plan to improvise, Leona. I thought that you knew better than that," he chastised. "Surely you can craft a much better plan that that." Leona just sighed and turned to Butler.

"First, he is not dead. Second, we unfortunately have very little information to go on. Most of my plan is composed to assumptions. While they are very good assumptions, they are assumptions nonetheless. While she was talking, Butler noticed that she had subconsciously assumed what many people had named "Leona Gradstein Lecture Position #1", which involved said girl crossing her left arm across her midsection and allowing her right elbow to rest in her left hand while making a gun with her right hand and pointing it towards the sky. **(A/N: Fate/Stay Night fans should know what I'm talking about)**

"The first step is to find him. We can accomplish that with Margrave Jeremiah's help," she started. "With Clovis's death, we have a much more competent person who can help us."

Inwardly, Butler shuddered at Leona's coldness towards Clovis. When they found out through "special" means that Clovis was dead, Butler looked at Leona for her reaction. However, her face betrayed no emotion, just like her tone towards his end now. He frowned and prepared to scold her for her cruelty.

"Leona, Clovis may ha-"

"We can rendezvous with Jeremiah and devise a method to find Lelouch. Knowing him, I can suspect several locations he might be in." Butler sighed and remained silent for the time being. "Clovis was fairly incompetent so he may've just missed Lelouch entirely. I'd check Tokyo first because Lelouch would want someplace where he can plot his inevitable revenge against Britannia."

The two sat down on the bench to rest their tired feet. Several seconds later, Leona continued. "There is also a good chance that he went to seek allies after he was attacked-"

"Wait, how do you know he's alive?" he interrupted. Leona smirked at his cluelessness.

"I know him very well, Butler. He is my rival after all." Leona cleared her throat. "Britannia's invasion of Japan was quick and sudden. This gave the Britannians the upper hand during the invasion because they were far more prepared for war than the Japanese. Their conquest started with the bombing of the Kururugi Shrine where Lelouch was staying. No doubt that they wanted to make him a martyr to incite the masses." For a moment, Butler thought that he saw a flash of anger in her eyes, but he quickly dismissed it as a hallucination. "He definitely should've seen the signs of impending war. With Britannia easing their pestering for more sakuradite, the Japanese were lulled into a false sense of relief. Lelouch probably saw this and deduced that Britannia was going to attack soon since he knows how Britannia tends to handle things due to his status as a royal prince. Thus he most likely left along with Nunnally. Not to mention he's got the devil's luck," she quickly added under her breath. "Anyway, where Lelouch went to is an unknown variable in my plans. For all we know, he could've ran off to the EU. Or maybe my theory is wrong and he's dead. We're Britannians so we'll encounter trouble if we go to the EU where he can easily get resources for his revenge. Therefore we're going to search for him here in Japan." Leona took a deep breath and steadied herself. "If we do find him, how we will handle the situation will depend on him." Once again, Butler was amazed at Leona's mind. Her deduction skills are quite impressive for someone her age, but then again Leona definitely isn't someone you would call a normal 17 year-old. He wasn't about to tell her that though; her self-esteem is already massive enough. However, once concern still plagued Butler.

"So what exactly are we trying to accomplish here, Leona? I get that you want to find Lelouch but why?" he questioned.

"Well he may know something that we don't. Considering how quickly and easily the emperor just exiled his own son who had the best chance to becoming emperor and making Britannia prosper, Charles must've had a _very _good reason to send him away. It is possible that Lelouch obtained some dangerous and confidential information. Also, I hate to admit this but"—she clenched her hand into a fist—"we don't have any other trails. We have nothing else to go on after that last noble we 'interrogated'," she admitted through gritted teeth. "I hate to say this Butler, but we might have just to admit defeat and end our investigation on Marianne's murder if this doesn't turn out well."

Oh that's right. Butler almost forgot the reason they're on this goose chase in the first place.

The empress's murder affected many people, Leona included. She was a role model for the young girl and taught the girl pretty much everything she knew, from knightmare piloting to how to annoy Lelouch (Leona the lessons didn't go to waste). Hell, she even got the woman's infamous mischievousness.

"So pray that Lelouch is still alive and here in Japan, get in touch with Gottwald, and work it out from there?" he summarized. Leona smiled.

"Glad you get the gist of it. Yes, you are correct." The conversation ended there, but against his instincts he added one more comment. "Wait, you're ready to surrender?"

Butler's balls got the chance to familiarize themselves with Leona's boots as the teen repeatedly struck man's greatest weakness.

* * *

**Omake: Rivalz's trip back to Ashford Academy**

"Some friend he is…" Rivalz was currently fuming because a certain black-haired teen decided to run off somewhere while he needed help pushing his bike. "Stupid…Lelouch!" He shoved the bike as hard as he could, gaining a grand total of one foot forwards. "Stupid…BIKE!" Another shove moved the vehicle. "DAMN CRAPPY BUILD QUALITY!" Rivalz wound up his arm and punched the bike as hard as he could.

The result? One undented bike and one screaming Rivalz.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Seeing his lack of progress, he slumped against his bike. The fact that he somehow managed to tear his clothing to shreds in some places made the terrible heat even worse. He sighed, fell to the ground on his knees, and cried out to the heavens with his arms spread wide, "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

Then, beyond all comprehension, it started raining. Oh, and there were thunderclouds too.

"I swear someone is plotting against me." Rivalz swept his now wet hair away from his face. "Probably subjecting me to this torture for everyone's entertainment…"

If only he knew…

"Hey there buddy. Need a ride?"

Rivalz turned to the origin of the voice and found a man in a semi-trailer truck with the passenger door open. The man seemed like the stereotypical truck driver. He hadn't shaved judging from the large beard he sported, complete with Dorito chip crumbs. His clothes…were unfashionable for a lack of a better term. And there were quite a few cockroaches in the truck cabin.

The blue-haired teen weighed his options. He could either lug the bike back to school for several hours in the terrible weather or endure torture for half an hour at best. He didn't like it, but he chose the less painful option.

"Umm yes please!" Rivalz nodded his head vigorously for extra emphasis.

The man smiled and told Rivalz to put the bike in the trailer. He followed his instructions and then got into the passenger seat of the truck.

"T-thank you, sir!"

"No need to thank me, lad. Now, where you going'?"

"Ashford Academy, sir." Rivalz thought that he saw a mischievous glint in his eyes, but he shrugged them off as his imagination playing tricks on him. The man smiled at the teen.

"Very well then. Buckle up, boy." The man went to put the machine into drive but accidentally brushed against Rivalz's arm and thighs, which were coincidentally missing the clothing that usually covered them. Rivalz's eyes widened, and he looked at the driver. However, the man's face indicated that he thought nothing of it.

_I have a bad feeling about this_

**5 minutes later**

_This is bad_. That was the only thing Rivalz could think about as the man's hand brushed against his skin for the 7th time. To make it worse, the storm caused most of the roads to be closed off so the half hour ride that Rivalz expected turned into at least a 2 hour ride.

_Someone is definitely plotting against me. I'll find him and gut him alive. _

You can try Rivalz…You can try…

* * *

**A/N: I love messing with Rivalz…**


End file.
